


Smells Like Omega Spirit

by lululawrence



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha Harry, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - College/University, American Harry Styles, American Louis Tomlinson, Flirting, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mating Cycles/In Heat, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Nesting, Neutralizers, No Smut, Not explicitly though, Omega Louis, Pining, Scenting, Sorry if that bothers you but I'll never understand the university system in the UK, Soulmates, because
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-02 20:21:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,769
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24432745
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lululawrence/pseuds/lululawrence
Summary: Louis is an omega doing a test run on neutralizers for a class project. Every time he talks to Harry he smells completely different.Harry is an alpha who can't figure out if he's going crazy or his sense of smell is broken, but all he wants to figure out what Louis' real scent is.Somehow they figure it out.
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson
Comments: 31
Kudos: 594
Collections: 1D A/B/O Fic Fest





	Smells Like Omega Spirit

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you to my beta and cheerleaders while writing this! I appreciate you! Thank you also to [pocketsunshineharry](https://pocketsunshineharry.tumblr.com) for being so flexible with me!
> 
> To whoever submitted the prompt I based this on, I hope you enjoy the fic!

Harry walked into the apartment and looked around. It was fairly full, but that was how Grimmy usually did things. He was friends with everyone, and if he wasn’t it was because he hadn’t met them yet. The party tonight definitely reflected that.

“Harold! You made it!”

Harry turned at the sound of his name and waved at Grimmy. “Hey, how are you?”

Grimmy pulled him in for a hug, and Harry could smell the alcohol on him already. It was so strong it almost covered his natural alpha scent.

“I’m doing so great, man, so great. Where’ve you been? Almost missed the party!”

Laughing, Harry waved his arms and spun around as best he could. “Yeah, I’m not sure that’s exactly true. Everyone’s definitely still here. Besides, I had to work.”

Grimmy rolled his eyes and shoved Harry gently against his shoulder. “Work. Overrated. Anyway, have fun! I’ve gotta go see Fi and Annie. They said they had a surprise for me!” Wagging his eyebrows a bit, Grimmy flounced away, leaving Harry surrounded by people he didn’t know.

He knew Niall was around here somewhere though, and Sarah had sworn she was going to drag Mitch out tonight as well. It was the first weekend after their senior year had started, so they had to make the most of it before they fully entered the adult world.

Slowly pushing his way through the crowds, Harry finally reached the kitchen and took a deep breath. It wasn’t nearly so packed there as in the rest of the apartment and Harry felt more at ease with the combined scent of alphas and omegas far more diluted. 

Harry also had never been so glad he knew where Grimmy hid the good liquor. There were tables lined with the cheap shit Grimmy had gotten for the party as well as whatever others had brought in the living room, but Harry didn’t want that. He was only allowing himself one drink tonight, and he was going to make it good.

With a slight grunt, Harry hefted himself onto the counter so he could reach the tiny cabinet above the fridge where Grimmy’s Froot Loop vodka was.

“Come on,” Harry muttered as he stretched his arm over to where the bottle had rolled.

“Need some help?”

Harry dropped his arm to the disgusting top of the fridge and turned around. Standing in the doorway was what had to be the most beautiful man he’d ever seen in his life. The omega was arching his brow at Harry and motioning towards the cabinet.

“Sure. Do you have Go-Go-Gadget arms so you can reach this a little easier?”

The man laughed and walked closer. It was then Harry was hit with his scent and his alpha was immediately attuned to it.

“Nah,” he said with a smile, “but I can at least help steady your legs, because it looked like you were about to step off the counter a second ago.”

Harry looked down and realized the omega was right. He hadn’t even realized and was incredibly close to falling to his likely death.

“Well, I’d appreciate that…” Harry arched his brow as he trailed off, waiting for the omega to give his name.

The omega gripped Harry’s ankles and smiled up at him. “Louis.”

Nodding his thanks, Harry said, “Harry,” then turned to grab the vodka.

“So what’s so special about what’s up there when there’s tables of drinks and snacks out there?”

Harry stretched and, finally, his fingertips grazed the neck of the bottle in a way to bring it closer to him and he latched on. Whooping in excitement, Harry pulled it out and turned to show it to Louis. 

“Froot Loop vodka!”

“Oh my God.” Louis started giggling and covered his mouth with the back of his hand. “That shit is disgusting. Give me a shot.”

Harry gasped in offense, pulling the bottle to his chest as if he was protecting it. The only issue was that when Harry gasped, the omega’s delicious scent was so strong it made him dizzy for a second.

“Whoa there, Curly. Let’s get you down from the counter, yeah?”

Harry nodded and handed the bottle of vodka to Louis before easing himself down to a seated position on the counter.

“Much better,” Louis said with a smile. “Where are the shot glasses?”

“Grim doesn’t have any,” Harry said with a chuckle. “We just use his mugs.”

“What the fuck?” Louis laughed. “That’s an easy way to get drunk.”

Harry nodded. “You make do with what you’ve got.”

Once they had their drinks poured, Harry watched as Louis winced and shuddered after drinking the vodka back.

“Not my favorite way to get drunk at all, but I’ll take it I guess.”

Harry smiled and sipped at his own. He only had the one, he wasn’t going to down it. He was going to sip it and make it last.

“What are you doing?” Louis asked as Harry took another sip. “Vodka isn’t meant to be savored or whatever you're doing. Especially this shit.”

“I had to close at work tonight and it’s a busy weekend for me. I’m only allowing myself the one drink tonight, so I’m going to draw it out some. Besides,” Harry said, smiling wide enough so he hoped his dimples popped and maybe drew the omega in more, “unlike you, I like the taste of it.”

Louis rolled his eyes, but held his mug out for more. “Come on, one more. Grimmy or whoever is hosting this won’t mind.”

“Don’t you know Grim?” Harry asked as he poured. “How else did you hear about the party?”

“His coworker at the student station, Greg?” Louis said as he shuddered again. “Fuck, I hate this shit so much. Uh, Greg. Greg and I had a shit date last year but have become good friends. He told me about the party tonight and then didn’t even show up, so I look like a dick.”

Harry smirked. “Well, you can stick with me if you’d like.”

Louis looked up at Harry through his eyelashes. “Yeah. I just might.”

X x X x X

Louis was running late and it was a very bad day to be running late. It was the day he was meant to meet with the rest of his team about the first week of their new trial. They’d been hit with a bit of a sucker punch after an entire summer working sixty hour weeks in the hopes of their neutralizer trial going public only to learn it hadn’t been accepted. 

Thankfully, Louis’ team was just as passionate as he was. He was the only omega working on this particular project, but the alphas weren’t knotheads and—along with the betas on the team—had their own personal reasons for wanting their product to get approved. They knew they were in the rough early stages of everything, but they’d never be able to learn where the issues were if they couldn’t test the product on omegas.

The fact of the matter was, there wasn’t a truly effective scent neutralizer on the market and while omega rights had improved vastly over the past twenty years, there was still a long way to go. Because of this, many omegas preferred to mask their scents as best they could, but it would be better and safer if a true scent neutralizer was available. Louis and his team had five slight variations of the same base and Louis was going to be testing each of them for a week.

This was week one and while he’d been making his own notes, there was a certain amount of testing they had to do at the lab as well as his usual reporting back to test effectiveness, etc. And Louis was running late. They had such a small space of time where they had access to various equipment since this was technically only research for a grade at the moment, and he couldn’t screw up their reporting options because he’d slept through his alarm.

Louis rushed across campus, running funny due his bookbag slamming against his back. He couldn’t slow down to readjust his calculus books, so he just held onto his straps tighter and continued to rush as best he could.

“Watch out!”

Next thing Louis knew, he was on the ground with a very familiar smelling alpha on top of him.

“Curly, I wasn’t expecting to see you again like this,” Louis wheezed.

Harry was currently lifting himself into a plank so he wasn’t actually lying on top of Louis anymore, which he appreciated, but he also didn’t really need the full view of the alpha’s well toned arms and frankly nicely maintained armpit hair in addition to the onslaught of his appealing scent. It smelled like Harry was the embodiment of Old Spice, but with a hint of something sweet too, and Louis wanted to delve into it a little more, except he really, truly was running late.

“I’m so sorry,” Harry said, eyes wide as he pushed himself up and then held a hand out for Louis. “I didn’t want the frisbee to completely bean you in the head, but then I took you out anyway.”

Louis still had hold of Harry’s hand when he looked down and saw the fairly sturdy looking frisbee. “Is that a frisbee golf disc?”

Harry scrunched his whole face up as he looked a little ashamed. “We kind of lost our usual disc and thought the driver would work well, but it has caused a few issues. Like nearly taking you out. That’s why I was worried about it really getting you in the head.”

Louis nodded and handed it to him. “That makes sense. I appreciate your concern.”

As he took the disc, Harry studied Louis’ face. It looked almost like he wanted to say something, but held himself back.

Which was fine, because Louis was really fucking late and needed to get going.

“I’m so sorry, I’m running late. But I’ll see you around, yeah?”

Louis was already running towards the lab again when he heard Harry yell, “Yeah!” after him.

He really did hope they’d see each other again. He was very interested in the alpha and would not mind getting his number. They’d had a good time at the party and Louis had kicked himself when he left without getting it. 

Oh well. Campus wasn’t  _ that _ big. They could find each other easily enough, surely.

X x X x X

Harry dumped the ice into the side station and peeked at his section before taking the bucket back to the ice machine. Finally the hosts had decided to give him a table. It had been so slow that night that even though he needed the money, he’d nearly asked his manager to cut him early so he could get home and study for his omega studies midterm.

Harry wiped his hands on his apron and walked over to greet his table.

“Hello and welcome to Marty’s, my name is Harry and…” Harry stopped his usual spiel when he realized one of the two sitting at his table was the omega he’d been thinking about almost nonstop the past few weeks. “Oh, hey, Louis.”

Louis gave him a smile. “Hey, Harry. I didn’t realize this was where you worked.”

“Yeah, I serve and bartend here.” Turning to look at the alpha sitting across from Louis, Harry gave them a wave. “Hey, sorry. I’m Harry and I’ll be taking care of you guys tonight. Can I start you guys with something to drink? Maybe a watermelon sugar lemonade or a strawberry tea?”

“What the hell are those?” Louis asked with a laugh before he brushed his fringe out of his eyes. “No, thanks. I’ll just take a Coke, please.”

“I’ll have you know the watermelon sugar lemonade is actually a favorite of mine,” Harry said, sticking his nose in the air. “I’ll still get you a Coke, though. And what can I get for you?”

The alpha was glancing between Louis and Harry, but said, “I’ll take a Sprite or Sierra Mist or whatever it is you’ve got here.”

“It’ll be Sprite. Great! The soup of the day is tomato basil, and I’ll be right back with your drinks.”

As Harry walked away, he finally realized he hadn’t smelled Louis. Or, he didn’t think he had. The first night they met, Louis’ scent had been so strong and sweet, he’d wanted to drink it. When he’d accidentally tackled Louis last week, he had been very confused, because Louis’ scent had gotten almost spicy. It was still him… Harry thought. Maybe. But it was different too. Not like he’d been hanging out with an alpha or other omegas or anything, it was just…

Harry shook his head and concentrated on scooping the ice into their cups and getting their respective sodas. Louis’ scent was none of his business, actually. It was pretty damn rude of him to be so fixated on it to begin with. It was just his alpha had reacted so strongly and viscerally that first time they’d met, he had never been able to get that scent out of his mind. 

Biting his lip as he pulled the straws from the cup at the side station, Harry told himself he would just try to take a subtle scent of Louis as he dropped off their drinks and then leave it be at that for the night. No, not just for the night, for ever! Unless he and Louis ever got further than just being mere acquaintances, Louis’ scent was none of his concern.

Taking a deep breath, Harry pulled himself together and walked back to the table. He placed the Sprite and Coke on the table, and then he realized the scent he’d thought was a co-worker’s perfume was actually Louis. It was almost cloyingly sweet and overly floral. It wasn’t very powerful, which was good news for Harry, because just that one good whiff he’d gotten then was enough to give him a slight headache.

Harry smiled and took their orders, but as he walked to a computer to send them to the kitchen, he couldn’t help but think about Louis. He’d expected Louis’ scent to be one of the two previous scents, but now it was different. How was it possible for someone to smell three completely different ways in three different meetings? He’d never heard of that before, but here he was now. It was very confusing. 

God, Harry was being ridiculous. Louis was not his omega. Louis was maybe his friend, but even so Harry could not be more in the wrong with his strange fixation on Louis’ scent. Maybe he was just wearing different deodorants!

Fuck. There he was again, thinking about it more. The issue was, the more Harry tried to  _ not _ think about Louis’ scent, the harder it was to avoid.

Harry submitted the order and went back to checking on his side stations. He could be a good alpha and friend and ignore all of this. No problem.

Taking a deep breath in an attempt to settle himself, he picked up some of Louis’ scent again. Okay, maybe it would be more difficult than he thought, but he still could do it.

X x X x X

Louis was glad this was the last day of this week’s neutralizers. The scent neutralizer for the week was making him sick, he was sure of it. He’d thought it was food poisoning from the restaurant he and Liam had gone to last Monday. When it hadn’t left, it had quickly become apparent that there was something about this particular neutralizer combination they’d tried that was  _ not _ working for him.

With it being Sunday and therefore the last day before switching neutralizers, Louis had to go to the lab for the last day testing and notes before the neutralizer change.

Louis was feeling a bit weak due to his inability to keep any food down other than some crackers and ginger ale, but he had to get there. At least he didn’t need to carry a bag.

Locking the apartment, Louis went down the steps and had to pause because he was already getting lightheaded. He was glad he’d left early enough to give him plenty of time to get to the lab even at a much slower pace than his usual. Louis had one hand placed on his stomach, the other gripping the handrail as he closed his eyes and took a long, deep breath. 

Two breaths, then three, and finally Louis wasn’t dizzy and didn’t have spots in his vision when he opened his eyes. Blinking at the ground, Louis started walking and was just about to pause again to lean against his neighbor’s handrail when he heard his name being called.

Louis tried not to whine, but he really just wanted to not have to walk anywhere or interact with anyone. Too bad the campus buses didn’t run on Sunday and none of his flatmates had a car he could borrow.

Turning his head, Louis was ready to tell whoever it was to just leave him alone and try texting him so he could answer when he felt better. He opened his mouth to start the hopefully short but effective speech, but the words died in his mouth when he saw it was Harry.

“I thought it was you, are you alright?” 

Harry rushed towards Louis, squishing his nose a little and Louis remembered him doing that Monday as well. It was cute, but he wasn’t sure if it was because of his scent or just how Harry looked when he was concentrating. Louis needed to get to know him better, obviously. Hopefully he’d be able to. If he didn’t die trying to get to the lab today.

“Louis?”

Louis blinked and looked back up at Harry, only then realizing he’d zoned out staring at the old Ramones shirt Harry was wearing. 

“Sorry,” he said, raising a shaky hand to his forehead and swiping his fringe out of his eyes. “I’m really not feeling that great, but I’ve got to get to the lab for a quick required thing so I can get back home and rest.”

Brows furrowing, Harry reached out and put his hand on Louis’ elbow. It was ridiculous, but he already felt more steady just having the alpha’s hand on him and smelling the waves of his gently spicy mix that was leaning more towards vanilla and musk. Louis thought it would make his stomach roll, but instead it had him feeling better than he had all week.

“Is there anything I can do to help? Where’s the lab?”

Louis gave a weak smile and nodded in the direction of the science buildings. “It’s on the other side of campus, actually. You wouldn’t happen to be able to walk me over there? Or have a car you could drive me over with?” 

Louis felt like he was being so weak and annoyingly giving into his omega’s desire to be closer to the alpha for longer, but he also couldn’t ignore the fact that just being near Harry was helping him physically improve enough to feel like he could at least make it through the study follow up.

“Sure. I’m actually parked in the campus lot just up the road.” Harry paused and studied Louis before he continued. “Think you can make it walking over there or should I bring the car to you?”

Louis took a deep breath and was filled with more of the rich vanilla from Harry. “I think if I can keep you close to be sure I won’t trip or something I should be able to make it.”

They were quiet as Harry led Louis to his car, and Louis was grateful. It was honestly taking every bit of energy he had to keep walking. As soon as Harry opened the door for him and helped him up into the SUV, Louis closed his eyes and relaxed into the seat. The car was filled with Harry’s scent, an almost citrusy note being the most powerful now. It was interesting because it was different from what Louis had noticed on the alpha before, yet it was still familiar. 

Louis almost dozed off on the five minute drive to the lab, but luckily he was conscious enough to guide Harry to the few spots right in front of the building. Louis was prepared to thank Harry and say goodbye, but Harry parked the car before Louis could say anything.

“I’ll be here whenever you’re ready to get back home.”

Louis geared up to protest, but Harry shook his head to stop him.

“I don’t have anywhere to be, and honestly I would not be a good friend, much less a decent alpha, if I didn’t make sure you made it home safely. Go ahead, do what you need to do and take as long as you need. I’ll be here.”

Louis was relieved, if he was honest. He was already cringing thinking about the stairs he was going to have to climb just to get inside the building. He hadn’t thought so far as actually having to get back home.

“Thanks, Harry. I really appreciate it.”

Harry gave a wide smile, and Louis’ chest warmed. He was so glad Harry had run into him and been kind enough to offer to help. He really didn’t know where he’d be otherwise.

“No problem.” As he looked towards the building, Harry nodded and asked, “You gonna make it up those stairs alright?”

Louis allowed himself to pay attention to how his body was feeling again, and he was again feeling improved. It was amazing how quickly Harry was helping him feel better.

“Yeah,” Louis said, and he wasn’t even lying. “I think I’ll be fine.”

“Okay, well if I see you pause or look back towards me, I’ll be there to help you the rest of the way.”

Louis really appreciated how respectful Harry was being while also being so considerate. Most alphas didn’t do that. They took over and decided what was best, but Harry was doing everything he could to ensure that Louis knew he was the one making the decisions regarding himself and his body. It was refreshing and wonderful.

Finally climbing out of the car, Louis said thanks one more time before heading into the lab. 

X x X x X

Harry smiled down at his phone as he read Louis’ most recent response. 

They’d finally exchanged numbers after Harry had helped Louis get to the lab while he was ill four days ago. They’d been texting pretty much nonstop since then, and Harry was slowly working up the nerve to ask Louis out on an actual date. 

Okay, maybe a date was feeling a little forward for what he was planning, but at least a meet up. A coffee date between classes at the very least. They were both insanely busy this semester, and he knew that until his own major projects as well as Louis’ big study were both finished, there wasn’t really going to be an opportunity for them to do more than just get together for something quick.

One thing he had felt more settled with was Louis’ scent. For the first time since Harry had met him, Louis’ scent had been the same on Sunday as it had been when he’d come to Marty’s. Harry had really started wondering if maybe Louis was a strange anomaly. Harry had always had a sensitive nose, and he wasn’t particularly fond of the incredibly strong floral scent Louis had, but he’d also explained how sick he had been so Harry figured it was just stronger than usual because of that.

Or he hoped so, anyway. He’d been so drawn to Louis’ scent the first night they met, but scent wasn’t everything. For Harry, as long as he wasn’t repulsed by someone’s scent then he wasn’t going to hold it against them. No one really had control of that anyway. Besides, even without his scent as a factor, Louis was captivating in every other way.

Harry’s phone buzzed a few more times and he couldn’t help snorting in surprise.

_ Louis: But then, it’s like I told the gurls _ _  
_ _ Louis: Gurls _ _  
_ _ Louis: Gorls _ _  
_ _ Louis: Fuck nevermind I’m out _

Harry quickly typed into the chat because he didn’t want Louis leaving. He was keeping Harry company while he waited for his turn to cash out with the manager on duty.

_ Harry: What happened there? _ _  
_ _ Harry: And please don’t go, I’ll be so bored without you _

_ Louis: I couldn’t find the i like a fucking idiot, go ahead and judge me _ _  
_ _ Louis: Aren’t you at work? Why are you bored at work? _ _  
_ _ Louis: Actually, why are you texting me while working at all? _

Harry considered how best to reply when the manager’s door opened and Mitch walked out. 

“All yours,” Mitch said, patting Harry on the shoulder before he headed to the kitchen to say goodbye.

Luckily Jamie made quick work of the tip out and Harry was able to leave soon after.

Pulling his phone from his pocket once he’d walked out, Harry laughed at the middle fingers Louis had sent when Harry had stopped replying.

_ Harry: I was finishing my shift, actually, but thanks for that _

He sent it and stared at his phone for a moment before realizing he could unlock his car and stare at his phone just as easily inside the car, out of the slight chill. Once he was settled with his phone plugged into his car charger, Harry bit his lip and stared at their conversation.

There were several options for how he could go about inviting Louis out. The question was, which one should he choose? He could full on call it a date and ask Louis out, but it was likely to be something for lunch and he wasn’t sure he wanted Louis judging him for a lunch date. Lunch dates always felt so casual and as if they weren’t as meaningful as a regular date, and Harry didn’t want that. It was just that he worked most evenings. 

He could just say it was a meet up for lunch, but would Louis understand that Harry wanted it to be a date? Harry’s phone went dark, and he still didn’t know how to do it. He really wished sometimes that there were still strict courting rules like there used to be, but obviously updated for modern times. He just really wanted to know what his next step should be to make his intentions clear without scaring Louis off. 

Before he could second guess himself, Harry unlocked his phone and typed, then immediately sent, his question.

_ Harry: Think you might be able to get together for lunch this weekend? I work closing shifts the rest of the week or I’d ask you on a respectable date, but this is the best I can offer at the moment. _

Harry read it and cringed as he tried to decide whether to delete it or not. As soon as the two ticks turned blue, he knew it was too late. Louis had seen it. Now he just had to wait for his response.

Except Louis left him on read and went inactive again. Great. Fine. That was… totally fine.

Harry groaned and regretted everything he’d done since climbing in his car. It was too late, though. He might as well drive himself home so he could drown his sorrows in some ice cream as he tackled the next section of his research paper.

He was almost home when his phone finally buzzed again.

_ Louis: Sorry, my mom called and if there’s one thing you should know about me, it’s that my mom comes first always lol _ _  
_ _ Louis: Lunch sounds great. I’m available Saturday, would that work? _

A horn beeped and Harry realized the light had turned green without him noticing. He drove the rest of the way home as fast as he could and already had his phone unlocked before he was fully parked.

_ Harry: Saturday is perfect _

X x X x X

Louis wrinkled his nose as he tried on another shirt. He kept catching whiffs of his current scent thanks to this week’s neutralizers and he hated it. It wasn’t bad like the previous week where he was physically sick thanks to the neutralizer, but it just felt very outdoorsy. Very camping in the woods and cooking over a campfire while surrounded by bugs and wild animals. Very… not Louis. Since it was his own scent, kind of, he couldn’t get a full sense of it, but he still caught bits of it, especially while trying on clothes for his lunch date with Harry.

He liked how this particular shirt hugged his quintessential omega curves, but it felt too formal for lunch. That was the issue he kept running into, actually. Everything he usually wore to impress alphas—or anyone, really—was a bit more revealing or fancy than what he wants to wear at one in the afternoon.

“Niall!” Louis yelled. “I need you!”

“The fuck?” Niall cursed as he ran into the room. Stopping in the doorway, he looked around with his eyes wide. “What have you done?”

Louis rolled his eyes at the beta and waved at his blue button up. “That’s not important right now. How’s this look?”

Niall popped his hip and tilted his head. “You look very nice for a job interview.”

“What? Noooooo!” Louis turned back to the mirror and realized Niall was right. He could not wear this shirt. “Help me! I have a date and nothing to wear to make him decide he wants to claim me immediately.”

Niall cackled. “That desperate for it?”

“Kinda,” Louis muttered, flattening his hand against his tummy. He’d been feeling extra keyed up this week and figured it was just a side effect of the neutralizers. All the same, he didn’t want Harry to take him on this lunch date and realize it was a mistake. He wanted Harry to leave knowing, without a doubt, that Louis should be his and act accordingly.

Sure, he didn’t  _ actually _ want to be bonded right away, but he at least wanted Harry to admit that his alpha was as affected by Louis as Louis’ omega was by him. Showing off his natural hips could only help his cause.

“This,” Niall said, tossing a sweater towards Louis.

“It’s plain gray,” Louis said as he took off what he was wearing and pulled the sweater on. As soon as he turned towards the mirror he remembered the neckline and knew exactly what Niall was thinking. “Oh…”

“Exactly,” Niall said, hands on his hips and looking incredibly proud of himself. “Showing off your collarbones like that will have whoever it is drooling and wanting to get his mouth on you. Plus, it hugs your curves and with those super tight jeans, it’s the perfect combination.”

Louis wrapped Niall in a grateful hug. “Thank you so much,” he said before pulling back and messing with his hair a little.

“Don’t thank me yet.” Niall looked around the room like it was about to burst into flames. “Can I please organize your clothes? It’s going to bother me just knowing you left it like this.”

Louis laughed. “Leave everything else, but the clothes you can go to town with.”

Niall already looked more comfortable. “Thanks. Now, go get you that alpha!”

Taking one last deep breath and making sure his hair really was alright, Louis grabbed his phone and wallet, then left to meet Harry.

X x X x X

Harry felt like he was still on cloud nine and it had been four days since his date with Louis. It had gone so well, he could hardly believe it. They’d somehow sat at their table talking for just over two hours and he was almost late for his shift at Marty’s because of it.

Louis was entirely worth it. By the end of it they had both agreed it should happen again and that they’d figure out when would work best for them later. They’d been texting about it off and on ever since, coming up with all sorts of possible plans. 

The only thing that kept bothering Harry was Louis’ scent. It was once again different, and Harry was really starting to get concerned. He had even gone so far as to beg Mitch to allow him to scent him over the course of a few days and make sure he wasn’t going entirely crazy. Mitch had looked at him like he was crazy, as usual, but he’d also shrugged and allowed him to do as he needed while just smiling at Sarah the entire time.

It hadn’t helped Harry at all. As far as Harry could tell, Mitch’s scent stayed the same and never changed outside of his usual moods. Sarah was the same for him, though as a fellow alpha he of course could not pick up on all of the complexities of her scent, it did ease his mind a little that she remained fairly constant for him as well. Grimmy had as well.

So why the difference with Louis? Harry was truly at his wits’ end, yet was embarrassed to bring it up with Louis. Not only was discussing someone’s scent rude, but what if it was something that Louis couldn’t control? What if it was a hormonal imbalance? Harry had heard stranger things, and he really didn’t want to lose Louis. 

So far none of his scents had been too bad, though he definitely had his preferences. Mostly the scent he had picked up the first night they met. God, Harry could hardly allow himself to think of how good Louis smelled that night because it was embarrassing how quickly it affected him. 

Harry’s phone vibrated with another text from Louis, this time a selfie from outside the building Harry was coming up to. Excitedly, he started looking for Louis and easily picked him out from the other students milling in the area. 

Pocketing his phone again without responding, Harry snuck up behind Louis and threw his arms around Louis’ waist to surprise him. Louis squeaked and jumped before relaxing in Harry’s arms.

As Louis turned around, the most rancid scent Harry had ever experienced hit him. It was so strong and nauseating that he physically recoiled without even thinking. Harry could tell by the look on Louis’ face that he was hurt by this, but Harry honestly couldn’t even try to reassure him, because the scent was so sour and revolting to him that he was afraid if he opened his mouth to reassure him, he would get sick all over the omega. 

Harry covered his nose and swallowed as he tried to clear his airways of the overpowering scent that made him so instantly and completely nauseous. It kind of worked, but he couldn’t rid himself of the physical side effects. 

Stomach roiling to the extent that Harry felt the need to run for the bathroom, he called out an apology as best he could through the sleeve of his hoodie and ran for the nearest building. He hoped he could find the toilet in time.

As he made his way to the men’s room and threw himself down on the floor of one of the stalls to empty his stomach, he continued to play Louis’ concerned and hurt face over and over again.

Harry would have to explain. There was no other course of action. As soon as he could calm his stomach he would absolutely have to text Louis and find a way to broach the sensitive subject.

Today’s incident got Harry thinking as he knelt on the hard floor, leaning over the white porcelain of the toilet, heaving. Harry couldn’t fault Louis for changes in his scent that he couldn’t control. If anything, it made Harry admire Louis even more for dealing with that. Louis had mentioned a study he was participating in casually during their date, and he’d even helped Louis get to one of the check-ins the other week when Louis had been sick. Harry had assumed from the way Louis had spoken, that he was running the study. He wondered now if perhaps Louis was actually one of the people participating in the study. Maybe it revolved around people who didn’t have their own scent, or maybe changing scents. 

Sitting down and leaning against the stall door, Harry took some toilet paper and wiped his mouth. It seemed his stomach had finally calmed down, and he was relieved for that. He felt worse thinking about Louis, though. 

Harry sighed. He hated himself for feeling this way, especially since he prided himself in being so accepting of people and their scents and that he felt that in the long run scents don’t  _ really  _ matter. The fact of the matter was, if the scent Harry picked up on Louis today was one that he gave off with any sort of frequency, Harry physically could not be in Louis’ presence. If his body hadn’t reacted in such a completely negative way, Harry would still work through it without a second thought. It was fine if there was a day here or there that Louis didn’t smell fantastic. Harry was sure he had his own days like that, even with a scent that didn’t vary like Louis’ did. 

Fuck. Harry picked himself off the floor and went to the sink so he could wash his hands. He did his best to rinse out his mouth and even splashed some water on his face. His stomach still felt a bit off, so he decided it was best to return to his apartment and email his professors, then continue to contemplate how to go about talking to Louis about… all of this. 

He hoped he could figure out a way to save any possibility of a relationship with Louis, but after today he wasn’t sure that would be possible.

X x X x X

Louis couldn’t help staring at his phone, willing it to light up with a text from Harry even though it had been over a week since Louis had heard from him. 

Well, that was a lie. When asked basic questions, Harry would give one or two word answers, but he was clearly avoiding Louis after whatever the hell had happened last week.

Louis honestly felt like he was experiencing emotional whiplash. He’d gone from such a high following the date and all their plans they had been making for future dates and the happy surprise of seeing Harry again before they’d even planned to, and with no known reason Louis could think of, Harry had pulled back with a look of pure disgust on his face. 

Harry still hadn’t given an explanation and at this point Louis was tired of trying to ask for one. He hadn’t blatantly done so, but he’d tried making sure Harry was okay and following up with him about various things. 

The response was always the bare minimum. Never more.

Louis sucked on his juice box some more. He’d been wallowing a little when he’d done his grocery shopping earlier, so he’d allowed himself the comfort of his favorite juice boxes from growing up. 

Curling up a little more, Louis wrapped the blanket around himself more and sank into his bed. He pulled his laptop closer so he could see the screen easier from his new position and wished he had something of Harry’s. He’d always smelled so comforting. The last time Louis had seen him, his scent had almost been that of fresh cut wood like hardware stores always smelled of along with his constant hint of cinnamon. 

Louis had been looking so forward to exploring the different depths of Harry’s scent. Learning what specific changes meant with regards to his mood. Louis wanted to know everything about Harry, but due to something Louis still didn’t understand it looked like all that had been taken from him before it had even started.

Shaking his head, Louis pulled the hood of the sweatshirt he was wearing over his head and settled in to watch some more of whatever Niall had been watching most recently on his Netflix account. Louis couldn’t bring himself to bother looking for something else, so he’d just continued where Niall left off. 

Louis had no idea how long he had been zoned out on whatever he was watching, but he was hit with an urge to smell Harry. Apparently just thinking about his scent being so comforting earlier had him needing that comfort immediately. The issue was, Louis hadn’t spent much time with him, much less close enough to him for any of his things to still carry the scent of the alpha.

Unless…

Climbing off the bed, Louis tripped over the covers he had cocooned himself inside and made sure to set them back up on his bed so he could easily climb back in once he’d found what he was looking for. Louis rushed over to the corner of his room, pulling clothes out until he got to the very bottom of the basket. The last time he’d done laundry was the night before he’d gone out with Harry, and therefore the clothes at the bottom he had worn for the date. He and Harry had not only hugged but held hands and remained close to each other for the time they were together. Hopefully it was enough for his clothes to still carry a small amount of Harry’s scent.

Pulling out his top, Louis held it to his nose and took a deep whiff. It was only trace amounts, but he could still smell a hint of vanilla and cinnamon mixed with Louis’ own weird outdoorsy scent from that week’s neutralizers. His omega didn’t like the idea of the other scent that much, but it was all he had for items that smelled like Harry, and Louis was desperate. 

Wait. Why was Louis so desperate for Harry’s scent? It didn’t make any sense. Louis had  _ never _ been this heavily reliant on someone’s scent. Then again, he’d never been as drawn to someone as he had to Harry. Maybe that’s why the sudden about face he’d experienced with Harry was hitting him so hard. Yeah. That must be it.

Louis walked back over to his bed and was about to climb back in when his phone rang. Digging around the blankets and making a note to himself to set them back up the way he wanted them afterwards, he finally found it and saw Liam’s name on the screen. Shit, he’d somehow gotten so lost in his wallowing he’d forgotten entirely about the day’s check in for the study.

“Hey, Li,” Louis said, looking down at his mostly clean joggers and hoodie. It would have to do. He walked over towards his dresser and pulled out some socks before heading to the door. “I’m so sorry, I lost track of time. I’m heading over now. Should be only fifteen minutes or so, okay?”

“Alright, but hurry,” the alpha said, sounding worried. “We’ve only got the lab for another forty-five minutes, and half an hour is really pushing it for getting these mid-week tests done.”

“Yeah, I’m literally walking out the door right now,” Louis said as he hopped, pulling his Vans on and locking the door behind him. 

Louis shook his head. He really had to get over Harry. The alpha clearly didn’t feel the same way about Louis as Louis did about him, and he couldn’t afford to get so hung up on him that he was forgetting about something as important to him as the study.

Taking a deep breath, Louis started to jog across campus towards the lab.

X x X x X

“H, you’ve gotta talk to him. Ghosting an omega like that out of nowhere, but  _ especially _ after you reacting the way you did to his scent? That’s not cool at all,” Mitch said, wrapping his arm around Harry’s shoulders.

Harry allowed himself to be pulled into Mitch and wrapped his arm around his waist. They often got mistaken as a couple because they were so close, but they’d never been anything but friends. He really needed the comfort right now, though. His alpha had been restless for the past several days, and he didn’t know why, but it had left him keyed up and nervous to the extent that when Mitch mentioned needing to pick something up from the student union, Harry didn’t want to be left alone in their apartment so he joined him.

“I know, I just don’t know how to do it now. It’s been long enough to be really awkward at this point,” Harry whined. He watched his feet as they walked slowly towards the union, until Harry felt drawn to look to his right.

He glanced to the side, and saw Louis. Harry immediately started to smile, before he remembered he’d been a total dick. 

Louis, though, was frozen and watching the two of them intently before he started walking with angry purpose towards them. Harry braced himself, he was sure to get a talking to from the omega. Really, he deserved the public dressing down he was about to get.

That wasn’t what happened, though. When Louis reached the two of them, he pushed Mitch away with a chesty growl, immediately positioning himself between Mitch and Harry.

As soon as he’d gotten into that position between the two of them, though, Louis’ entire body tensed up and his shoulders rose. He was only wearing a t-shirt despite it being fairly cold out today too.

“Louis?” Harry asked tentatively. He took a quick sniff in the air, and didn’t smell anything. Not a trace of the omega at all. It was almost disconcerting. Nothing worked so well it covered an alpha’s but especially not an omega’s scent entirely. Harry really had no idea what was going on now.

“Fuck,” Louis whispered, his hand to his mouth. He spun to face Harry and spit out a quick, “I’m sorry,” before running towards where Harry knew he lived.

“Wait, Louis!” Harry yelled, before turning to Mitch, bewildered.

“Go after him, man,” Mitch said, nodding towards where Louis was quickly retreating. “That was some seriously possessive omega shit, but I’m not sure he was fully aware of what he was doing. You two need to talk this out.”

“Possessive… like he thought you were encroaching on his territory? Like… he sees me as his alpha?”

Mitch rolled his eyes and pushed Harry towards where Louis was still rushing away from them. “His omega sees you as his alpha, even if he doesn’t agree with it. Now go talk to the man!”

Harry smiled gratefully at Mitch before turning and running after Louis.

Louis was fast, but Harry had been jogging a lot this semester to help with his stress relief, so he was able to catch up right as Louis got to his apartment.

“Louis, wait,” Harry said, panting as he reached out for Louis.

Louis whimpered and visibly shuddered at Harry’s touch, swaying towards Harry now. Concerned he was going to pass out, Harry grabbed at his shoulders and helped him stay upright.

“Why are you here?” Louis asked, eyes closed. “I get it, you don’t want to see me anymore. I’m really sorry about that back there, I didn’t even realize I was doing it until it was too late, okay? I just… I just…”

Louis drifted off, but didn’t say anything more. He was just shaking.

“You just what?”

Louis whined and leaned into Harry’s chest, overtly scenting him. Harry’s alpha immediately felt appeased in a way he hadn’t felt in days.

“I’m going into an early heat,” Louis whined. He pulled himself back but refused to let go of Harry’s shirt. Looking up into Harry’s eyes, Louis now looked incredibly nervous to continue. “I wouldn’t usually have to worry about this until later in November, but we’ve been doing this omega neutralizers study and it got blocked by like five different options for funding, so I was the only option to do it as a university and lab centered program, but we didn’t expect them to mess with my cycle. I didn’t even realize what was happening until I went for my follow up today. Fuck…”

Louis shuddered again before pulling away and digging in his pockets for his keys. 

“I’ve got to get inside before the neutralizers wear off and everyone nearby knows there’s an unbonded omega in heat out in public.”

Harry’s brain felt like it had short-circuited. Louis… was going into heat? Early? But he couldn’t smell him at all. Right, neutralizers. A study or something?

Without even thinking about it, Harry followed Louis into the apartment and closed and locked the door behind him. It was only then he realized how forward he was being, but Louis was looking at him in surprise. He hadn’t tried stopping Harry or even pushing him back out.

“Shit, sorry, I…” Harry turned to look towards the door. A concerned look on his face, he said, “I think we’ve got a lot to talk about. Do you know how long you have until you fall fully into heat?”

Louis shook his head. “I’ve never had one brought on early due to medications or anything. If it were a normal heat, I’d have until tomorrow morning. I can’t promise anything, though.”

Harry hummed his understanding. He… well. His alpha was not wanting to leave Louis alone right now. It apparently viewed Louis as his omega as much as Louis’ omega viewed him as his alpha.

“Is it okay if I stay and we talk about some things?” Harry swallowed harshly, worried that Louis might say no right when he was hoping to finally make some sense of everything that had confused him for weeks now. “I have a lot of questions and I think… no, I  _ know _ I have some explaining to do myself.”

Louis studied his face, and Harry tried not to fidget under his scrutiny.

“Yeah. I…” Louis paused and scrubbed at his eyes. “I’m nesting really fucking hard right now. Do you mind cuddling me? I’ve been needing that for days now.”

Harry couldn’t nod fast enough. “Yeah. Of course. I kind of need that too. Or, like, my alpha does.”

Louis gave a small smile and turned around. “This way.”

The hall was short and Louis paused outside his room. 

“I really... “ He sighed, his cheeks flushed a little as he glanced up at Harry. “I really should have seen what was happening, but it wasn’t on my radar at all, I thought I was just sad. So please excuse… all of this.”

Harry wasn’t sure what to expect, but as he turned into the room he wasn’t surprised at all. It reminded him of when Gemma hadn’t learned the warning signs for her heats yet when they were teens. The room was spotless, entirely clean, except for the bed. The bed was a perfectly shaped nest, consisting mostly of blankets and pillows as well as various articles of clothing and even a towel.

“My omega didn’t like that I didn’t have anything smelling like an alpha. It didn’t even like the things that smelled like my varying scents over the past weeks, so I had to deep clean everything to appease it and make do with things that smelled like my beta roommate.”

Harry was glad Louis’ roommate was a beta, but that did bring up another issue. “What’s your roommate going to do during your heat?”

“Well, luckily he’s already helping his alpha through rut.” Louis rolled his eyes. “He isn’t supposed to be back until Wednesday, which will hopefully be enough time.”

Harry nodded, unsure of where Louis wanted him. There wasn’t really anywhere to sit inside his small room other than his bed.

“Could you, I mean, do you mind getting in my nest?” Louis’ face was squished up like he was expecting to be rejected. “I know, that’s unusual and probably not anything close to what you were expecting, but you smell so fucking good, and I just really need that. And food. Lots of food.”

“I could get the food for you, if you’d like?” Harry offered, pointing towards the door. “You could get yourself comfortable in the nest and I’ll find anything you’d like?”

Louis considered it for a moment before he shook his head. “No. I need your scent in the blankets more than the food. I can handle that. Thanks for the offer, though. Can I get anything for you while I’m in there?”

Harry shook his head. “I’m fine, thanks though.”

With a small smile, Louis left the room, and Harry turned back towards the nest. 

He’d never been in an omega’s nest before. A nest was very private and special, and while Gemma used to use an item or two from his and Anne’s closets for her nest, it had been clear that everyone was meant to stay away from the nest itself. He was afraid he’d ruin it or sit the wrong way, or something. 

Louis had seemed adamant, though. He wanted Harry’s scent in his nest, and he was honored by that. 

Harry walked up to the next, and did what he could to expand it a little in the hopes of being able to fit both himself and Louis inside. There was only so much space to work with on his double bed, but he made do. 

Looking down at his feet, Harry decided to take a chance and took off his socks, adding them to the next, but making sure to tuck them inside the blankets. He’d only put them on that morning to walk around the house in, but maybe it would be enough to leave behind for Louis’ omega to be appeased after their talk.

“Here goes,” Harry muttered to himself. 

He leaned in, placing his hands near one side, then kneeled up onto the bed. He knocked over a small portion of the nest walls, but he hoped he could fix it before Louis came back in. Rolling over a little, Harry started fussing with the blankets, but there was nothing he could do to get the wall to stand the way Louis had managed to.

“Don’t worry, I change it every time I get inside anyway,” Louis said for the doorway.

Harry jumped a little in surprise, and turned with a guilty smile. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to mess it up. I’ve never tried getting into a nest before.”

Louis kept his eyes focused on the cardboard box top he was using as a tray for his tea and various snacks, but Harry was still able to catch a small smile. He hoped that meant Louis was pleased his was the first nest Harry had ever been inside.

“It’s nothing special. You’ll get used to it when you find your omega.”

Harry decided it was probably best to not respond to that.

Once Louis had set the box top on his nightstand, he nimbly climbed into the nest and curled up into Harry’s side.

“Is this okay?” Louis asked before shifting so he was flush against Harry’s side.

Harry lifted his arm and settled it easily around Louis. “Yeah, this is great.”

Louis hummed before reaching over and grabbing the first thing his hand came into contact with, which was a granola bar. He opened it and took a bite before asking, “So let’s get started. We might as well since I don’t know how long I’ve got.”

“Right,” Harry said, before shuffling around to get a bit more comfortable. Louis latched onto his shirt, and Harry chuckled. “I’m not going anywhere yet, I promise.”

Louis hummed, sounding like he wasn’t sure, but he kept chewing and slowly relaxed back into Harry’s side.

“So, you mentioned neutralizers?”

“God, yes,” Louis said, taking another bite. “Have I really not mentioned the study to you?”

“No? What study?”

Louis launched into his explanation about all the research he and his team had been gathering over the past year or two and their grant applications they’d filled out as well as other steps that frankly Harry wasn’t sure he understood. All he knew was a lot of time and effort had been put into these new neutralizers they were hoping would be more effective options for omegas to use.

“Wait, how often were you switching neutralizers?” Harry asked. “And for how long? Like, when I first met you, were you already doing the study?”

Louis shook his head, slowly nudging his nose closer to Harry’s shoulder and neck. “No, I started the first dose that Sunday.”

“So that was your natural scent that night?” Harry asked.

Louis froze. “Oh my God. Holy shit, I didn’t even… yes. You’ve literally never been able to smell me since then, have you?”

“Nope,” Harry whispered. “Though, to be honest, I’m kind of glad that’s the one that is really you. I was worried for a while there that maybe something was wrong with me and I couldn’t scent you you properly, or something.”

Louis took a moment to speak. “So, you like my scent?”

“Yeah,” Harry admitted, nosing into Louis’ hair. “Very much.”

He was starting to be able to pick up traces of Louis’ scent, but it was still very faint. He wasn’t sure when the neutralizers usually wore off, but his heat could be messing with that too for all Harry knew. He was very anxious to be able to scent  _ Louis,  _ not his neutralizers.

“So, yeah,” Louis said slowly. “There’s that. Next question?”

Harry took a deep breath and tried to decide which topic to broach next. Neither seemed great, but he decided Louis had shared so much with him, it was his turn to share next.

“Well, instead of a question, I was hoping I could maybe explain what happened with us and why I was… uhm…”

“Being a douche canoe?” Louis asked. “A knotheat? A…”

Before Louis could keep going, Harry covered his mouth with his hand and laughed. “Yes, yes. All of that. I was just going to say a dick, but those would apply as well.”

“I had some other even more creative options,” Louis said into Harry’s hand. 

Harry removed his hand and turned to Louis so he could tentatively rub his side. Louis’ chest rumbled again, but this time it was obviously a sign of content. His omega was so close to the surface, Harry had never witnessed anything like this before. Then again, he hadn’t been around an unrelated omega this close to their heat, either.

“I’m very sure you could come up with an infinite amount of vulgar names I’ve never heard before at the drop of a hat.”

“Don’t test me, I really can.” Louis reached over, and this time grabbed a cereal bar.

“Yeah. So, I was horrible and I wanted to explain.”

Louis pushed himself up so his forehead was tucked into Harry’s neck and he could feel his jaw working to chew his snack. It was so intimate and Harry didn’t want to ever leave.

“I just… I had been trying to explain why you smelled different almost every time I saw you, while still trying to remind myself that a person’s scent wasn’t something that could make or break a situation for me.”

Louis hummed. “Very good of you.”

“Yeah, well, telling myself that didn’t exactly work that day.” Harry swallowed. “I didn’t know what was going on and I was so confused and things were going so well, but then I came up to you and you smelled… I’m so sorry, but those neutralizers you were on that day had your scent so horrible it made me sick for the rest of the day.”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Louis asked. “I would have understood and explained immediately.”

“Yeah, but you knew what was going on. I didn’t,” Harry argued. “Imagine me thinking maybe you had some sort of a deficiency or other health issue that caused your scent to change and that you had no control over it. That would be like me saying you, who you are, something you cannot control, was so disgusting it made me violently ill immediately.” 

Harry paused, looking down in an attempt to see Louis’ face. With him tucked into Harry how he was, he couldn’t, but fuck he wished he could. 

“I couldn’t bear to hurt you like that. But I also knew that if your scent was like that with any amount of frequency, I couldn’t handle being around you. Just like you couldn’t help your scent, I couldn’t help my physical reaction to it. I didn’t know what to do. So I kept trying to put it off and find a good way to bring it up, and I never could.”

Louis nodded, and Harry pulled him in closer.

“Yeah. that makes sense,” Louis said, voice quiet. “I’m really sorry I didn’t explain all of this to you. It’s my fault we’ve both been hurting like this.”

“It’s okay, you couldn’t have known what was going on with me, either.” Harry chuckled a little. “I have to thank whatever it is that caused you to go into heat early, though.”

Louis squeaked in surprise, trying to pull back from Harry a little. He kept his arms tight so he was guided back to his neck. Louis breathed deeply again, and Harry couldn’t stop his alpha from growling a little in pleasure. 

“Okay, but why is my going into heat something you want to thank? Cause for me, personally, I’m finding it pretty fucking inconvenient.”

Harry smiled. “Cause it was thanks to your omega taking control and trying to stake its claim on me that I finally had the courage to talk to you.”

“God, I”m still so fucking embarrassed. I don’t even know who that was.”

Harry laughed. “It was Mitch. My roommate and one of my best friends. He’s also pre-bonded to another alpha.”

“Good,” Louis said before groaning. “Fuck. Sorry. No, I mean. Yeah, okay, I meant it, but also I’m so sorry. I have no right to be so territorial towards you. I’ve never been like this before, I really don’t understand it.”

“That’s alright,” Harry said, smiling to himself. “So, if you don’t mind, I’d really like to start dating you. For real, this time. No dancing around the subject and pretending we’re just going on dates for fun. I’d like to properly court you. Can I? Court you?”

Louis lifted himself up a little and smiled brightly at Harry. “Fuck, yes.” 

Harry leaned in for a quick kiss, only their second ever, and Harry couldn’t help but notice how warm Louis had gotten. He dragged his fingertips up Louis’ bare arm. His skin was becoming almost feverish, and he knew Louis wasn’t going to be holding off his heat until morning. 

“So, do you have any idea what triggered your heat so early?”

“Not really,” Louis said, letting out a high, needy whine as he tucked himself in to kiss Harry’s collarbone. “We’d have to do another study with fewer changes between neutralizers and such. This was such an early test of these, we had no way of knowing if the potency would cause a side effect like this.”

Harry hummed. “Do you usually have someone help you through your heat?”

“I have once, but it was through a service and the student insurance doesn’t cover it anymore.”

Taking a deep breath, Harry decided to just go for it. “Would you mind… I mean, I know this is fast, but I have to ask. I just…”

“Just say it, Harry. God.” Louis chuckled. 

“Can I help you?” Harry said, before practically tripping over his words in his effort to explain as fast as he could. “I’ll take care of you in whatever way you’d like. We can talk over the details now, if you want. I’ve never done it before, but I promise I’ll respect your boundaries and wishes. I just think you’re going to be falling fully under here soon, and I’m not sure my alpha will allow me to relax if I’m not here with you.”

Louis nodded quickly. “Yes. Please. My omega,  _ I,  _ want you here too.”

Harry leaned in and kissed Louis’ forehead. “Okay, omega. How can I take care of you?”

X x X x X

Louis stretched and accidentally hit someone beside him.

The weirdest thing happened when he did that. He felt it.

Well, of course he felt it, but he also felt it not just as the one who did the hitting, but like he could feel  _ being hit. _

“What the fuck?” Louis said. He quickly took stock of himself, and saw he was perfectly clean and both he and Harry were under the covers. Clean covers. Harry really did a great job of taking care of him.

“How do you need me, darling?” Harry mumbled, rolling over and pulling Louis into him. “What do you need?”

Louis felt exhaustion as well as something that felt like a desire to help, to take care of someone flood through him. 

“Harry, I feel weird.”

Harry stiffened and that was when a shot of panic caused Louis’ heart to race. Except, he hadn’t been panicking. He was  _ now,  _ but he didn’t even know why.

“Harry, what the hell is going on?”

“Well, uh, see, I’m so sorry, okay? I really am. You kept asking over and over again and I kept saying no, but you were calling me Alpha and I didn’t mean to actually fully bond, and I didn’t think I even had, I thought I was just nipping your neck a tiny bit to appease you, but like my alpha took over and before I knew it we’d kinda accidentally bonded?”

Louis blinked. “Okay, alright. I mean, fuck. Okay, but why can I like…” Louis took a deep breath and scrubbed at his eyes. This was a lot to take in after having been in heat for who knew how long. “Harry, I can feel you. Like, I felt what you felt when I accidentally hit you and I can feel you near passing out right now. I’m not mad, not really, I’m just trying to figure shit out, okay?” Louis laughed, sounding a little hysterical. “Please calm down, I can’t think when you’re freaking out like this. What the  _ fuck _ is going on?”

“Well. I- I might have asked my mom because I didn’t know and was trying not to have a panic attack.”

Louis’ eyes widened. “Oh my God, Harry, I’m so sorry. Okay, you’re okay, right? I mean, I can feel that you aren’t, but like you aren’t  _ that _ bad, right?”

Harry took a deep breath and shook his head. Thank fuck. Louis closed his eyes and took a deep breath himself.

“Okay. Good. So tell me what she said.”

“Well first she about killed me for accidentally bonding you without even discussing the possibility with you first.”

“Good. I like her. And what else did she say? Cause, Harry? I know several bonded couples. None of them can feel their bondmate.”

Harry’s nose squished up and he smiled. “Yeah, well. You know how your omega reacted so strongly to me and my alpha to you?”

Louis nodded. This was old news by now. They’d had a lengthy discussion all about that before his heat fully started.

“Of course you do. Anyway, my mom said that’s a sign that we’re true mates. And that when I accidentally bonded us, it completed the merge? And I guess when true mates bond that means we can feel each other like… this.”

Louis blinked. “I thought true mates were bullshit for romantic movies and shit.”

“I mean, same. Don’t get me wrong, I love those movies, but I didn’t think it was real. I guess it is, though. Just super rare.”

“Super rare, but we not only found each other, we accidentally mated after almost breaking up due to my study and learned only  _ then _ that we’re true mates?”

Harry’s eyes darted everywhere, and Louis couldn’t help the fondness that rose within him seeing and feeling how nervous Harry still was. As soon as the warmth rose in Louis’ chest, though, Harry’s eyes immediately found his and he finally relaxed for the first time since he realized Louis was out of heat.

“I mean, yeah. Basically.” 

They laid in Louis’ bed in silence for a while, Louis’ nest fully deconstructed with Harry’s cleaning during the course of Louis’ heat. He was glad. The worst part of nesting was  _ always _ cleaning it up afterwards.

“You really aren’t mad?” Harry asked, tentatively.

Louis rolled his eyes and leaned in for a kiss as he tried to soothe Harry’s nerves. He’d have to experiment with sending Harry feelings like that in the future, but for now it seemed like his feeble attempt was working, because Harry relaxed beneath him.

“I’m a little annoyed. I had no plans to be bonded this young, but I’m having a hard time being too mad when it’s you and it turns out we’re kinda soulmates anyway.” 

Louis smiled shyly at Harry. He felt like he  _ should _ be mad, but he couldn’t bring himself to actually be that way. He was too happy and too content at the two of them finally being on the same page and being so fully each other’s. 

“What about you? You didn’t really plan on this either.”

Harry rolled his eyes. “I wanted to claim you as mine from the moment I saw you in Grimmy’s kitchen. Besides, I’m the one who accidentally bonded you, so. Even if I was upset, I don’t think I really have a right to be.”

Louis shook his head. He really felt so happy in this moment, happier than he ever remembered feeling. Probably because he was feeling Harry’s as well as his. That was going to take some getting used to.

“Well, Alpha, what are you making me for my post-heat breakfast?”

Harry smiled widely and pulled Louis in for a deep kiss. “Whatever you want me to, Omega.”

“Ooh,” Louis said, laughing and leaning in for another kiss. “I like the sound of that.”

“Good.”

“Yeah. Good.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading! Please consider leaving a nice comment and kudos if you enjoyed :D


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